Hamilton dental office puts up 30-foot Christmas tree

Wednesday

Nov 27, 2013 at 5:03 PM

By Lisa.Ermak@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4219

If you can’t buy the perfect Christmas tree, follow Clark Griswold’s lead and go find it.That’s what Ben Wickstra did.Ben and his father Don are partners and dentists at Hamilton Dentistry and, every year, put up a small nativity scene on their business’s front lawn off M-40. But this year, Ben said he wanted to do something a little more extravagant to celebrate the holiday.So he set out all over town looking for the perfect pine."We found some 15-footers, 20-footers, but then the wind storm came and blew down a 30-foot tree."It was perfect.The tree, on property owned by J T Enterprises, came tumbling down after high winds swept through West Michigan last week, and the business gladly offered it up when Ben asked if he could take it.With the help of another local business, Trestle Town Turkeys LLC, the massive tree was loaded onto a forklift and strapped down.Ben dug a hole four feet deep and three feet wide to anchor the Christmas tree and spent eight hours on Tuesday decorating it with 7,000 lights.On Wednesday, it had yet to be topped with a star. "That depends if I climb back up there," Ben joked.Ultimately, Ben said he wanted to put up the Christmas tree to bring the community together. The public is invited to a tree lighting ceremony at Hamilton Dentistry, 3494 M-40, on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Hot chocolate will be provided."We’re doing it to celebrate the meaning of Christmas with our community. This is something fun, and (if) people enjoy it, then next year we thought we would continue the tradition."— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelLisa.